Anhotep¹

Mummiform figurine, greenish faience with black details. Plain tripartite wig, with front extensions². Well-defined facial features painted in black. The mouth, nostrils, eyes, eyebrows, and ears stand out clearly. He wears a three-strand usekh collar. The arms are crossed, right over left. On the right wrist he wears a bracelet painted black. Closed fists, each hand holding a hoe. On the back, the end of the wig has an extension. Over the right shoulder, a bag of interwoven fibres falls vertically down the back. Beneath the wig, he wears a curved yoke with two crossed cords and two water flasks.

The text consists of one vertical column, just below the arms, and four lines that completely encircle the figurine. The text is read from right to left, beginning with the central column and continuing with the first horizontal line, moving in a downward spiral.

Figurine acquired at auction³. Little is known about the individual, beyond the fact that his name matches that of an important Viceroy of Kush and Lord of the Southern Lands, buried in tomb TT300, in Western Thebes.

The figurine shows details indicative of the individual’s importance, such as the wig extensions, the bracelet, and even its size. One point to note is the determinative at the end of the name. It is not clear whether it is an A1 or, on the contrary, an A52 (associated with members of the nobility). In the excavations carried out by Petrie and Quibell in the Beir el-Ballas area in 1895, they discovered in the temple of Seth, at Nubt, a tablet dedicated by the official Anhotep, from the New Kingdom⁴. Could it be the same individual as the shabti?

The text does not reveal any further details about the deceased. The horizontal lines partially and very briefly recite the formula of Chapter VI of the Book of the Dead.